Column: Obama should arm US agencies in Mexico

By Taeler De Haes

Published March 8, 2011

President Barack Obama met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon on March 2 and March 3 to discuss the relations between the two countries.

In their fifth meeting, the two presidents discussed the recent WikiLeaks publication. Calderon said the leaks caused serious damage for U.S. ties with Mexico.

A series of cables signed by the United States Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual on Dec. 17, 2009, and Deputy Chief of Mission John Feeley on Jan. 29, 2010, reveal the concerns of U.S. officials in Mexico that “Mexico’s antinarcotics effort is plagued by poor coordination and rivalry among the country’s various security forces,” according to Fox News.

The major topic of the presidents’ conversation concerned the death of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata. He belonged to the border agency and was shot and killed by Mexican drug cartels while unarmed.

His partner Victor Avila was also injured by a shot to the back and is recovering in the U.S. The death toll from drug cartels increased 60 percent in 2010 to more than 10,000 people. Even more horrific: there have been more than 34,000 deaths since 2006 in drug cartel related incidents.

The U.S. needs to arm its agents sent to Mexico. But Obama is completely against the idea.

“There are laws in place in Mexico that say that our agents should not be armed,” Obama said, describing the U.S. role south of the border as an “advisory” one. He continued saying, “We do not carry out law enforcement activities inside of Mexico.”

Did I mention that the gun that killed Zapata was purchased in Texas?

Now, let’s think about the Mexican government for a second. What kind of laws do they really have?

What exactly is their government doing? Obama needs to stop embarrassing Americans on home soil.

Reports of beheadings and shootings are prevalent; we should be trying to protect Americans from massacres. If we are allowed on Mexico’s land for homeland security, then we should be armed in case of an attack.

Reversing Mexico’s veto on foreign agents carrying weapons is a “top priority of this White House,” a senior official, who requested to remain anonymous, told Fox News.

Coming directly from their website, the ICE's primary mission is to “promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade, and immigration.”

With a budget of $5.7 billion, not only can we fund armed weapons for ICE, but we need to fund weapons to protect our country. The ICE has more than 20,000 employees and is prominent in 47 foreign countries. Looking at the pictures on the ICE’s website, they are featured with guns and bullet proof vests.

What does that tell you, Obama? America is funding the ICE to keep our country safe. There is no such thing as a peaceful drug lord or tranquil slaughtering. Please give these people weapons.

The Obama administration plans on spending $500 million on Merida Initiative, which is helping the fight against drug trafficking in Mexico. The program has been going on since 2008 and will help train security officers and deliver equipment like helicopters.

If we are funding our protection in other countries, we need to arm the ICE with proper equipment for their safety as well. Obama needs to work with Calderon on border safety to get rid of American deaths due to the blood bath in Mexico.